Fans of the Jason Bourne movies (based of the novels by Robert Ludlum) – The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum – have a hard time seeing the franchise moving forward without the ever-likable and ever-talented Matt Damon (We Bought a Zoo), but I’m here to say this summer’s fourth installment, a spin-off called The Bourne Legacy, looks absolutely amazing. And really, how could it not be anything but spectacular? It’s directed and written by Tony Gilroy, …
Tag: Matt Damon
Cameron Crowe is the George Lucas of romance and dramedy. The former and sometimes Rolling Stone magazine writer has made some memorable pop-culture 80s movies – Fast Times and Ridgemont High and Say Anything…, two really fine films – Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous, and then two forgettable movies that had great trailers, lots of potential, but didn’t quite mesh (see Vanilla Sky and Elizabethtown). When I watch the trailer for Crowe’s new movie, We Bought a Zoo, I can’t …
Bird flu. Swine flu. Pandemic. Chances are you’ve heard those words in the media over the last few years, and, if you’re like me, even though you scoffed somewhat at the chance of some violent outbreak, you’ll readily admit your buttcheeks were clinched at the prospect of the flu reaping havoc on life as we know it. Thanks to our Hollywood pal, Steven Soderbergh, the director behind such movies as Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Ocean’s Eleven (and …
Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and the Coen brothers are four names that would drive any cinema lover to the movies expecting great things. Okay, wait. I take that back. After Jonah Hex, I can’t quite put Josh Brolin in that context, but you get where I’m going – these names, when linked together, probably mean we’re going to get a picture that will be receiving Oscar nominations come January 2011. Honestly, after the first trailer for Joel and …
I oftentimes find myself grossly swindled by movie trailers, but in the case of Clint Eastwood’s new “supernatural” thriller, Hereafter, the plodding, head-scratching trailer matched the contents of Dirty Harry’s movie to the letter. I read a review this morning opining that only Clint Eastwood could have directed such a lovely movie about life-after-death, but I wholeheartedly disagree on both points: This isn’t a movie about life-after-death (more on that later), and Clint Eastwood absolutely couldn’t be the only director …
The Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, have produced some of the most enjoyable, an acclaimed films, of the last 25 years. From Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou? to No Country for Old Men and Burn After Reading, the sibling’s eclectic directorial and storytelling sense is as wide as the subject matter they cover and as laser-focused as Hollywood’s best and brightest. You can imagine the giddiness, despite me never seeing the original (Shuuuuuun! Shuuuuuuun …
Clint Eastwood turned 80 years-old in May and he might be, in his old age, one of the busiest men in Hollywood. If he’s not the busiest, then definitely he might be one of those most acclaimed filmmakers of the last decade. Think about it: Invictus, Gran Torino, Changeling, Letters from Iwo Jima, Flags of Our Fathers, Million Dollar Baby, and Mystic River are highly acclaimed (and awarded) films in the last six years. But this should come at no …
Philip K. Dick died in 1982 after suffering a stroke at the age of 53. I’m betting the Average Joe has no idea who Dick was, but if I told you his novels had spawned the movies Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Imposter, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly and Next, you’d probably think Dick was brilliant, maybe a little nuts and definitely rich. Despite his body of work, Dick died pretty close to the poverty level and obviously isn’t around …
Despite being a taught action-thriller and one of the best films of 2010 (granted we’re only two and half months into the year), only two things will be buzzed about Paul Greengrass’ (The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum) new Matt Damon-starring movie, Green Zone: Shaky/Queasy Cam and politics. Fortunately, most competent viewers will ease past the low-hanging, easy-to-reach baseless pedestrian criticisms and savor the unapologetic story Greengrass and screenwriter Brian Helgeland (The Taking of Pelham 123) deliver with frantic …
Not only is Clint Eastwood a superb director, but he is a hard worker. Seriously, the guy has been going non-stop with award-winning films since 2003 and Mystic River, which, I should add, he followed-up with Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima, Changeling, Gran Torino, Invictus and, due in 2010, Hereafter. With the exception of Hereafter, I dare you to argue that any one of those movies isn’t nothing short of stellar. You can’t. And …